The reason Germany failed to conquer the Soviet Union in 1941 was the delay of the expeditions by six weeks?

Answer 1

German failure in 1941 can be attributed to several factors.

1. Overconfidence
Hitler had seen his Blitzkrieg Smash through France (then considered the most powerful army in Europe) and Poland. Hitler saw the struggles Red Army in the Winter War with Finland in 1940 as a result of the Red Army's very political nature. Also as a result of Stalin's purge of the officer corps of the Red Army in 1938 which left the Red Army crippled because of lack of good leaders. As a result of the Molotov-Ribbentrop or Nazi Soviet Pact of 1939 which was the partition of Poland, the Wehrmacht and Red Army trained together very closely and engaged in several major war games in Poland. The Red Army lost almost every single time except when commanded by up and coming General Georgy Zhukov.

As a result of this, Hitler believed he could completely surprise the Red Army (which was not prepared for war) with a massive troop movement and defeat the Russians very quickly, in-fact many German soldiers lacked adequate clothing for winter. Muddy Russian roads, superiority of Russian tanks at that point, and fierce resistance slowed the advance, which allowed winter to set in. Without adequate clothing, Wehrmacht soldiers had to wear captured Russian winter gear, resulting in friendly fire and disorganization.

2. Soviet defeat of Japanese at Battle of Khalkhin Gol in 1938
General Georgy Zhukov smashed the Japanese Kwantung Army to smithereens, employing successful blitzkrieg tactics. The Japanese wished to focus more on their Pacific empire so they signed a neutrality pact. This allowed the Soviet Army to call upon their veteran Siberian divisions for the the defense and counter-offensive around Moscow.

3. Lack of Resources
The Germans lacked sufficient resources to fight a prolonged war, the survival of the the Red Army after the initial shock of Barbarossa indicated a total failure for the Germans. The Soviet Union commanded some of the most resources in the world, and cleverly transported entire factories (the machines anyway) to the east where they could resume production of war materials.

That is kind of down and dirty the early half of the Eastern Front of WW2 for Dummies.

4. Soviet Union was a bloody machine. It could be beaten by itself only.

Answer 2

the troops didn't have winter clothing.