Many people claim that it was extremely stupid for Germany/Hitler to attack the Soviet Union in World War 2, but is this claim just typical hindsight-thinking or based on information that was available in 1940? In this video I take a look at the information prior to Operation Barbarossa. Most notably the experience from the First World War, the Battle of France, the Invasion of Poland, Operation Weserübung and the Winter War.Just before dawn on June 22nd, 1941, the attack was launched. Over the course of the operation, about four million soldiers of the Axis powers invaded the Soviet Union along a 1,800-mile front, the largest invasion force in the history of warfare.In addition to troops, the Germans employed some 600,000 motor vehicles and between 600,000 and 700,000 horses. It marked the beginning of the rapid escalation of the war, both geographically and in the formation of the Allied coalition.Operationally, the Germans won resounding victories and occupied some of the most important economic areas of the Soviet Union, mainly in Ukraine, both inflicting and sustaining heavy casualties.Despite their successes, the German offensive stalled on the outskirts of Moscow and was subsequently pushed back by a Soviet counteroffensive. The Red Army repelled the Wehrmacht’s strongest blows and forced Germany into a war of attrition for which it was unprepared.
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