Abstract
The German summer offensive against the Soviet Union in 1942, Case Blue, is one of the most famous campaigns in history thanks to the Battle of Stalingrad. Although historians agree that the offensive’s aim was control of the Caucasian oilfields, there is a widespread misconception that Baku was the main objective. German ambitions were in fact rather modest—the primary objectives were the smaller and more accessible oilfields of Maikop and Grozny. The Germans were also just as determined to deny the Soviets access to Caucasian oil by severing transit along the Volga as they were to secure the oil for themselves.
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Cite this article
Anand Toprani, “The First War for Oil: The Caucasus, German Strategy, and the Turning Point of the War on the Eastern Front, 1942,” The Journal of Military History 80, no. 3 (July 2016): 815–854.