How are Napoleon's and Hitler's invasions of Russia similar?

Answer 1

Hitler's invasion of Russia was strikingly similar to Napoleon's 1812 invasion for several reasons:

1. Both H and N attacked Russia while at war with Britain. They both attacked with the intention of forcing Britain into surrender. In 1812, Napoleon invaded Russia because Russia refused to participate in the continental blockade of Britain. In 1941, Hitler told his generals that the best way to defeat Britain would be to remove the last remaining ally in striking distance: the Soviet Union.
2. Both H and N believed the war would be a short one, and intended to have the war be completed after the frontier battles in Poland and the Baltics. They never expected to fight a long war that would stretch into the Winter, and thus, neither supplied their army with the necessary logistical support they required.
3. Both H and N intended to use envelopment (or encirclement) techniques to trap the Russian armies West of the rivers Dnieper and Dvina.
4. In both invasions, the Russians learned the value of retreat as the main strategy of defeating each army. In 1941, Stalin refused to allow front-line divisions to retreat, resulting in massive encirclements. But once he began to listen to his generals, the Red Army began using rear-guard tactics and retreat to draw the Wehrmacht away from supply lines.
5. Both armies of H and N advanced too far and found themselves freezing to death in the Russian Winter. While Napoleon attempted to pull his army out in October of 1812, Hitler ordered his famous "halt order", resulting in continued offensives in 1942 and 1943.

Answer 2

Both conquered Russia as far as Moscow, and were then driven back.