Rasputitsa

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Rasputitsa (painting by Alexei Zavrasov , 1894)
Soviet Union (Kursk) - Team of horses sunk in deep mud in March 1942

Rasputiza ( Russian распу́тица , 'Wegelosigkeit' ) is the Russian name for the mud season , mud period or rainy season in spring and autumn, in which wide landscapes and unpaved roads in Eastern Europe (especially Belarus , Russia and Ukraine ) are caused by melting snow and autumn rains to soften the special geography of the landscape and become impassable. Basically, Rasputitsa, the two mud seasons , is seen as another season in Russia . In between is the winter time known as General Winter .

Geographical causes

Between, to single out this area, the Soviet border of 1941 and the three cities of St. Petersburg , Moscow and Kiev , which are each about 1000 km apart, there is no elevation higher than 150 meters. The water masses of the snowmelt and that of the autumn rains can therefore not run down and converge quickly. There are also no hills or mountains in which, depending on the type of rock , large amounts of precipitation can seep away in order to later be released from springs back into streams after being temporarily stored. The ground consequently softens deeply and becomes groundless.

Importance in war

The two mud periods prevent any troop movements for about a month. During the Second World War , the Soviet commander of the Voronezh Front , Filipp Ivanovich Golikov , replied to the question of whether there was a prospect of a counter-offensive by the Red Army reaching the Dnieper line by March 1943: it was 320 to 370 km to Dnieper and 30 to 35 days to spring Rasputitsa. Make your own conclusion. This had to be that the snowmelt would begin before the conclusion of the Russian operation and that the Dnieper line would initially remain in German hands.

Napoleon's Russian campaign in 1812

The Rasputitsa disabled Napoleon's advance in the Russian campaign 1812 . From November 17, 1812, the extraordinary Rasputitsa had devastating effects on the retreat of the French army, which was facing the two greatest natural obstacles, the Dnieper and Berezina, on its march back from Moscow. After the usual winter cold, mild south-westerly winds began to blow from November 17th, which lasted until November 27th and melted the snow and ice. The crossing over the Dnieper took place on 19/20. November, the one over Beresina on November 27th to 29th, 1812. The morass made progress extremely difficult and the slippery soil of the steep slopes caused many soldiers to slip and perish in the river.

November uprising

The Rasputitsa tied Russian troops to the vicinity of Warsaw for more than a month during the November uprising of 1830/31.

First World War

During the First World War , the Rasputiza or the Russian winter , after it had hindered several campaigns on the Eastern Front, was the subject of scientific articles in Germany.

Second World War

In the German-Soviet war , the large-scale swamp formation caused by the season was primarily to the detriment of the attacking Wehrmacht troops , although it also slowed down Soviet counter-offensives such as the one mentioned above from 1943. The muddy season in the spring of 1941 lasted unusually long, so that the start of the German attack, Operation Barbarossa , was delayed by several weeks. The muddy paths and streets hindered both sides in the Battle of Moscow from October 13, 1941 . However, the main disadvantage was with the attackers, because the mud made it impossible for them to advance quickly on Moscow. In addition, the winter frosts, which made the ground hard again from November 1st, became unusually severe from November 6th, for which the Wehrmacht, which had not procured winter clothing, was not prepared.

  • Wehrmacht soldiers push a car out of the mud on the Eastern Front, October 1941

  • Village street outside Moscow, November 1941

  • Wehrmacht soldiers pull a car out of the mud on the Eastern Front, November 1941

  • Russia, motorcycle in the mud, spring 1943

  • Soviet gun, October 1942

Finland

In Finnish the condition is called kelirikko or rospuutto .

literature

Web links

Commons : Rasputiza  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Excursus I: The Limitations of War. In: John Keegan : The Culture of War. Rowohlt, Berlin 1995, ISBN 3-87134-226-2 , p. 116.
  2. ↑ a b c Excursus I: The Limitations of War. In: John Keegan: The Culture of War. Rowohlt, Berlin 1995, ISBN 3-87134-226-2 , p. 117.
  3. ↑ napoleon-series.org FAQ regarding what made Napoleon fail in invading Russia
  4. ↑ edwardtufte.com “ whilst it was almost impossible to drag the gun-carriages through the half-frozen mud ”
  5. ↑ B. Brandt: From the Russian winter. In: The natural sciences . January 25, 1918, Volume 6, Issue 4, pp. 41–43, p. 42 there.
  6. ↑ ostfront.net
  7. ↑ B. Brandt: The Rasputiza. In: The natural sciences. Volume 5, Number 21 / May, 1917.
  8. ↑ B. Brandt: From the Russian winter. In: The natural sciences. Volume 6, Number 4 / January, 1918.
  9. ↑ zeit.de
  10. ↑ Richard Overy: Russia's War. 1997, pp. 113-114: “ Both sides now struggled in the autumn mud. On October 6 [1941] the first snow had fallen, unusually early. It soon melted, turning the whole landscape into its habitual trackless state - the rasputitsa , literally the 'time without roads'. ... It is common place to attribute the German failure to take Moscow to the sudden change in the weather. While it is certainly true that German progress slowed, it had already been slowing because of the fanatical resistance of Soviet forces and the problem of moving supplies over the long distances through occupied territory. The mud slowed the Soviet build-up also, and hampered the rapid deployment of men and machines. ”