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The Battle of the Caucasus was a series of Axis and Soviet operations in the Caucasus as part of the Eastern Front of World War II.On 25 July 1942, German troops captured Rostov-on-Don, opening the Caucasus region of the southern Soviet Union to the Germans and threatening the oil fields beyond at Maikop, Grozny, and ultimately Baku.
On 23 July 1942, the day that German forces captured Rostov-on-Don in the Battle of Rostov, Hitler issued Führer Directive No. 45, making the split of Army Group South permanent by finalizing the orders to be issued to each of the two army groups. Army Group A was assigned the execution of Operation Edelweiss (Unternehmen Edelweiß).
The operation involved a two-pronged attack: one from the Axis right flank against the oil fields of Baku, known as Operation Edelweiss, and one from the left flank to protect the first attack, moving in the direction of Stalingrad along the Don River, known as Operation Fischreiher. [7]
Prepared in 1942, never carried out.) [24] Operation Blau (strategic summer offensive in southern USSR. Carried out 28 June 1942.) Operation Fischreiher (plan to advance to the Volga river and capture the city of Stalingrad. Carried out 22 July 1942.) Operation Edelweiss (plan to capture the oil fields of Baku and gain control over the Caucasus ...
Edelweiss (1942) — advance through the Caucasus to the Baku oil fields and Black Sea coast; Kreml ("Kremlin") (1942) — deception operation to conceal southern offensive; BLAU ("BLUE") (1942) — Umbrella name for drive towards southern Soviet Union. Blücher ("after Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher") (1942) — campaign into the Caucasus
In the summer of 1942, Operation Edelweiss was drawn up in order to capture the Caucasus, in particular, Baku and Grozny. A similar plan called Velvet was also drawn up by the allies of the USSR – England and the United States. [4] In 1942–1943, 74 attempts of the German air forces to invade Baku were stopped. [3]
In 1942 on the Eastern Front, the German army approached the South Caucasus. Hitler was eager to capture Azerbaijan, seeking oil to strengthen the German army and weaken the Soviet Union – whose economy relied heavily on oil and fossil fuels. [6] Operation Edelweiss was planned to commence on September 26, 1942. [7]
Axis Operation Edelweiss 23 July – 21 August 1942; North Caucasian strategic defensive 25 July – 31 December 1942; Tikhoretsk-Stavropol Defensive Operation : 25 July – 5 August 1942 Armavir-Maikop Defensive Operation : 6–17 August 1942 Krasnodar Defensive Operation : 7–14 August 1942 Novorossiysk Defensive Operation : 19 August – 26 ...