[Political Interest]

Why did the German strategic plans intend to only expand German control up to the Ural mountains? Why did the Germans not plan to go further east deep into Siberia and into Central Asia?

Also, what were the German plans for places like Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and other lands? Did they plan to conquer them or were they not especially interested in these regions?

[Decky]

In a word logistics. Think about how badly they did in real life and they never got past to Volga.

Now imagine them trying to go past the Urals, what would they do after that? Go on to Vladivostok?

They had enough trouble with this sort of thing without trying something as insane as that.

"Hail the heroic partisans, who destroy the fascists' rear"

Members of the Sydir Kovpak partisan detachment

Belarussian partisans in the forest near Polotsk, Belarussian SSR September 1943.

Partisans take on the village to drive away a German punitive expedition.

[Preston Cole]

Why should they? The Soviet Union would no longer pose a threat if driven back to the A-A Line. Historically, the Urals also marked the frontier between projected German and Japanese spheres. The Urals would be fortified with soldier-peasants to defend the European frontier from the Japanese, Chinese and what remained of the Soviets.

There were plans for Reichskommissariat Turkestan if Case Blue ended well and the Germans could cross the Volga, but it was thought up by Rosenberg and Hitler had a habit of rejecting his ideas.

[fuser]

natural frontier/border, its much easier to defend mountains than open fields.

[Smilin' Dave]

Another consideration would have been the perceived value - lebensraum etc. was about farming land primarily, and the territories beyond the Urals were not exactly famous for the wealth of their soil. Even the more strategically useful resources like oil, metal ores etc. were more easily found in the 'European' part of the Soviet Union, exploitation of these resources didn't really become a thing in Siberia and the Far East until several decades later.

[Preston Cole]

I think a more interesting question is whether the Soviets could take back European Russia after being pushed to the Urals. They did have an extensive industrial network in the Urals (assuming the Luftwaffe doesn't completely level it), and perhaps manpower-wise the Soviets would be approx. equal to the Germans (assuming Germany doesn't set up Russian and Ukrainian puppets), but they'd lack the necessary oil quantities to carry out comprehensive armored warfare.

[fuser]

American oil will start rolling in through pacific I think, with much larger and direct American support to keep soviets in fight.

[Smilin' Dave]

I think another restriction on armoured warfare, or any strategic move by a modern army in the region really, would be the limited infrastructure. There probably weren't a heap of decent roads and I'm guessing there were few major railways. From what I remember of the Russian Civil War in the east, it was mostly fought along the railway lines. This would make supporting any major strategic offensive difficult, as getting enough supplies to advancing forces would be tough. About the only bright side would be the German military in the area would be equally constrained and starved for resources for much the same reasons. If the avenues for a major push were really limited though, they can probably fortify the only approaches to some extent.

I think if it came to it, it would more be a nasty series of small but bloody offensives and counter offensives. If it lasted long enough to be a long term thing, you might even see some kind scenario where isolated German settlements find themselves besieged by similarly isolated Russian villages and vis versa... pretty much transfer the Balkans conflict or the low intensity conflicts of the Caucasus to the Urals and I think that's how it would pan out.

[Political Interest]

In a word logistics. Think about how badly they did in real life and they never got past to Volga.

Now imagine them trying to go past the Urals, what would they do after that? Go on to Vladivostok?

They had enough trouble with this sort of thing without trying something as insane as that.

I suppose it was too ambitious to go that far. Infrastructure and logistics would be a massive problem as you said. Especially in the middle of Siberia. However having an empire from Berlin to Vladivostok could have been interesting for them. Perhaps they didn't want to have to deal with Japan?

Why should they? The Soviet Union would no longer pose a threat if driven back to the A-A Line. Historically, the Urals also marked the frontier between projected German and Japanese spheres. The Urals would be fortified with soldier-peasants to defend the European frontier from the Japanese, Chinese and what remained of the Soviets.

There were plans for Reichskommissariat Turkestan if Case Blue ended well and the Germans could cross the Volga, but it was thought up by Rosenberg and Hitler had a habit of rejecting his ideas.

It would have offered them the chance to control more territory I suppose.

Was the plan to eventually include all Reichskomissariats into a Greater German Reich?

natural frontier/border, its much easier to defend mountains than open fields.

True.

Another consideration would have been the perceived value - lebensraum etc. was about farming land primarily, and the territories beyond the Urals were not exactly famous for the wealth of their soil. Even the more strategically useful resources like oil, metal ores etc. were more easily found in the 'European' part of the Soviet Union, exploitation of these resources didn't really become a thing in Siberia and the Far East until several decades later.

I see.

[Preston Cole]

Was the plan to eventually include all Reichskomissariats into a Greater German Reich?

Of course. The Reichskommissariats were in and of themselves inseparably tied to the German state as a type of colonial governments. Interestingly, though, the nations of the south Caucasus were to be given more autonomy within the Reichskommissariat Kaukasus, not as puppet states, but something in between.

[Political Interest]

Interesting. I have heard they may have given these to the Turks as puppet states but also under strong German influence?

[Section Leader]

The Germans could have quite easily defeated the USSR if they had entered the Soviet Union as liberators rather than conquerers. Had the Nazis been less explosively anti-Russian, or at least anti-slavic, they could even have persuaded some of the more nationalistically minded Red Army commanders to defect and pull the rug from under the Soviet central government. But by oppressing and crushing the Russian people, they rallied round Stalin as a national saviour. I think it's possible they could have reached the Urals if they had the support of western Europe, but I don't think they'd have been able to get much further.

[fuser]

The Germans could have quite easily defeated the USSR if they had entered the Soviet Union as liberators rather than conquerers.

And undermine the whole rationale for the invasion?

Had the Nazis been less explosively anti-Russian, or at least anti-slavic, they could even have persuaded some of the more nationalistically minded Red Army commanders to defect and pull the rug from under the Soviet central government.

The purges (red army purge) mostly took care of that. Even then, they did managed to find defectors but without any great effect.