Evgeniy Pavlovich Mironichev,
Candidate for a Degree, Saint Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia; Museum of the Karelian Front (Branch of the National Museum of the Republic of Karelia), Belomorsk, Russia, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
“…This is Not an Operation, but an Expedition. It is a Pity for the Forces That will Be Used Here”: The Soviet Arctic in the Documents of the German High Command in 1940−1941
DOI: 10.31518/2618-9100-2025-2-15
The article, based on published and unpublished German military planning documents, including those posted in electronic remote access systems, reveals the significance of the military operation in the Arctic in the main documents preparing the aggression of the Third Reich against the USSR in 1940−1941. Historiography has a simplified disclosure of the topic, and does not study the impact of these plans on the course of hostilities. A consistent review of the documents shows that the prepared plan of Operation “Silberfuchs” was largely formed due to pronounced economic reasons, but at the same time had a low military demand, which led to the disproportionality of the set goals and the training carried out by the German command. The contradictions and views of the German command related to the plans in the North are shown. The main factors in the preparation of the German operation in the Arctic are identified, including the stated position of the Finnish government, the real and hypothetical actions of the British and Soviet navy fleets in 1941, as well as the importance of Norway in German trade and economic chains. Based on the available materials, an attempt is made to simulate the process of developing the “Silberfuchs” plan considering the events of the Soviet-Finnish war and hypothetical actions arising from the pre-war plans of the involved parties. The pre-war plans had a great influence on the events of the Great Patriotic War in the North in 1941, when the German-Finnish troops in the Arctic could not defeat the Red Army and did not achieve their stated goals in any of the areas of military operations.
Publishing: 28/04/2025
The article has been received by the editor on 22/03/2025
How to cite: Mironichev E.P. “…This is Not an Operation, but an Expedition. It is a Pity for the Forces That will Be Used Here”: The Soviet Arctic in the Documents of the German High Command in 1940−1941 // Historical Courier, 2025, No. 2 (40), pp. 184−200. [Available online: http://istkurier.ru/data/2025/ISTKURIER-2025-2-15.pdf]
Links: Issue 2 2025
Keywords: The Great Patriotic War; Arctic; Murmansk; Norway; Wehrmacht; War planning; 1941