What was the name of the German plan to capture the oil-rich Caucasus oilfields and Stalingrad in the summer of 1942, shifting the main offensive effort away from Moscow?
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: C. Case Blue (Fall Blau)
- Step 1: Realizing Germany faced severe petroleum shortages to sustain mechanized warfare, Hitler ordered Army Group South to capture the Maikop, Grozny, and Baku oilfields.
- Step 2: Hitler divided his forces into Army Group A (pushing into the Caucasus mountains) and Army Group B (advancing to secure the Volga River flank at Stalingrad), diluting German combat power and leading to disaster at Stalingrad.
Answer
Case Blue (Fall Blau)
Why not the others: 'Fall Gelb (Case Yellow)' Fall Gelb was the German invasion plan for France and the Low Countries in May 1940; 'Fall Weiss (Case White)' Fall Weiss was the German strategic invasion plan for Poland in September 1939; 'Operation Citadel' Operation Citadel was the German armored pincer offensive at the Battle of Kursk in July 1943.
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