Germany Invades the Soviet Union

In the early morning hours of June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany broke its non-aggression pact and launched Operation Barbarossa against the Soviet Union. More than 3.5 million Axis soldiers advanced across a front of about 2,900 kilometers from the Baltic Sea down to the Black Sea. The campaign deployed more troops, armor, and aircraft than any previous military offensive. Driven by Adolf Hitler's long-standing aim to secure living space and eliminate Bolshevism, the German high command sought to destroy the Red Army west of the capital and seize vast territories reaching an imaginary line between Arkhangelsk and Astrakhan.

The German planning was rooted in ideological radicalism and severe overconfidence. Earlier victories in Western Europe and the Red Army's poor performance in the Winter War convinced German planners that Soviet forces would collapse within months, just as opposing defenses had dissolved during the invasion of Poland. Based on these assumptions, the Wehrmacht was poorly prepared for a long struggle in freezing temperatures, and many units lacked winter clothing and cold-weather equipment. Alongside operational orders, German directives set aside the laws of war for the campaign, and planners expected that tens of millions of Soviet citizens would starve to death as a result of occupation policies.