The Operation Barbarossa it was organized by Nazi Germany during World War II and aimed at the invasion of the Soviet Union from June 1941. With this invasion, the most violent scenario of the entire conflict began. In all, around 3.6 million soldiers were mobilized by Germany for that operation.
Background
From the beginning of his political career during the 1920s, Adolf Hitler he already defended that Soviet Bolshevism was a great enemy of the German people, emphasizing this in his speeches and writings. When he took power from Germany in 1933, Hitler indoctrinated the populace to believe that a war against the Soviet Union was essential for the survival of the German people.
Because of this ideological rivalry between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, it was expected, in 1939, that a confrontation between the two nations would happen as a consequence of the existing climate of tension. in Europe. This expectation for the confrontation between these two countries meant that the whole world was taken by surprise by the signing of the Non-Aggression Pact.
This agreement between Germany and the Soviet Union was also known as the German-Soviet Pact and was concluded in August 1939, that is, a few days before the start of the Second World War. Through it, a peace agreement was established between these two nations for a period of ten years, including in the event of war in Europe. In addition, this pact stipulated a series of trade agreements between the Soviets and Germans, as well as secret clauses that stipulated the division of territories in Europe between the two countries (as in the case of Poland).
In a way, this agreement was a sham, as both the Germans and the Soviets knew that war between the two nations was inevitable. For Germany, the agreement was important because it guaranteed essential Soviet resources and allowed the Germans to concentrate on the western front of the war. For the Soviets, the importance of this agreement lay in enabling them to strengthen their defenses for a future clash.
A few days after the signing of the agreement between the two nations, the Germans attacked Poland, an event that started the Second World War. From 1939 to mid-1941, Germany would have a period of considerable victories in the war, with the invasion of several countries such as Poland, Norway, France, etc. These victories are largely attributed to the innovative tactic of the blitzkrieg .
Invasion of the Soviet Union
The operation that carried out the invasion of the Soviet Union from 1941 onwards was one of the largest carried out in wars in the history of mankind. Barbarossa, from an ideological point of view, aimed to defeat and extinguish Soviet Bolshevism. From a war perspective, this invasion was vital for Germany to keep its economy going.
The Soviet Union was a nation that possessed a wealth of resources important to war, and obtaining those resources was crucial to keeping Germany in the war. Among the existing resources on Soviet territory, the sources of minerals and oil stood out. in the Caucasus region. In addition, grain production of Ukraine was essential for the German population not to go hungry.
With these objectives, the attack was organized for June 1941, with the mobilization of more than 3 million soldiers. Before the attack, the leader of the Soviet Union, Josef Stalin , received numerous warnings about the German plans. These warnings came from British intelligence and different Soviet agents, however, the communist leader ignored all these warnings about the imminent German attack.
Thus, in all, Stalin received more than 80 warnings|1| , and the only actions he took to reinforce Soviet defenses were the installation of anti-aircraft artillery in Moscow and the call-up of 800,000 reservists to the Red Army. The inertia of the Soviet leader partly explained the ease of the Germans in conquering the borders and penetrating thousands of kilometers into Soviet territory.
The attack began at dawn on June 22, 1941, with more than 3 million soldiers, and quickly conquered the borders. Many German generals disagreed with this campaign because of its difficulty, and in general they all agreed that a victory against the Soviet Union should be established quickly to avoid the reorganization of enemy resistance and the total drain of German resources.
With this, four primary targets for the success of the campaign were established:
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Conquering the industrial fabric of the city of Leningrad , north of the Soviet Union;
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Conquer the administrative center of the country, that is, the capital Moscow;
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Conquer the grain-producing lands around Kiev and, later, move the German armies to conquer the mineral resources of the Soviet Union from the conquest of Stalingrad .
This strategy was established by Hitler, who divided the German army into three major military companies. Most of the German strategists tried to convince Hitler to carry out a single attack against Moscow, but the Nazi leader opted for the division of troops. Seen as misguided, this strategy almost succeeded, however, it failed.
As it had been defined, the conquest was supposed to happen quickly and fulminatingly, which, in fact, it almost did. The Germans besieged Leningrad for 900 days or so, conquered Kiev easily, almost conquered Stalingrad and were on the outskirts of Moscow. The German attack lost steam due to lack of resources, the vastness of the territory and the Soviet army and the harsh local climate.
The German failure was even known to the Nazi leadership in November and December 1941. It was suggested to Hitler that the confrontation against the Soviet Union be resolved diplomatically, but he continued to believe in defeat and continued with the attacks. The great German defeats in the Soviet Union took place in Stalingrad and later in Kursk .
|1| BEEVOR, Antony. The Second World War. Rio de Janeiro:Record, 2015, p. 216.
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